Discover the right viewpoint
Predict before seeing the explanation
A is mother of B and C. B is father of D. C is mother of E. Draw just those four arrows. Which people share a parent? Which children lie on different branches? Do not guess anyone’s gender from a letter.
Use only these facts: A is the mother of B and C. B is D’s father. C is E’s mother. What is E to D?
Show answer
Correct answer: C
B and C share mother A, so they are siblings. Their children D and E are cousins. This question alone does not state E’s gender.
Option A: D and E do not have a stated shared parent. Their parents B and C are siblings.
Option B: E is a child of C, not a stated parent of D.
Option C: Correct: B and C share mother A; their children D and E are cousins.
Option D: E is in the child generation of this branch, not two generations above D.
Hint: Find the shared parent of B and C.
Use that map. E is also stated to be C’s daughter. What is E to D more precisely?
Show answer
Correct answer: A
D’s father is B. B’s sister is C. C’s daughter E is D’s paternal aunt’s daughter. C, not E, is the aunt.
Option A: Correct: D’s father B has sister C, whose daughter is E.
Option B: The first move from D is to father B, not to a mother. It is the paternal branch.
Option C: D and E are children of two siblings, not stated children of the same parent.
Option D: C is the paternal aunt. E is her daughter, one generation below the aunt.
Hint: Start from D, not from E.
In that map, what is D to E? D’s gender is not stated.
Show answer
Correct answer: C
E’s mother C has brother B; D is B’s child. D’s gender is unknown, so “child” is justified, not “son” or “daughter”.
Option A: The maternal-uncle branch is right, but son assumes D is male without a clue.
Option B: The branch is right, but daughter assumes D is female without a clue.
Option C: Correct: E’s mother C has brother B, and D is B’s child. No gender guess is needed.
Option D: D is the child of E’s maternal uncle, not E’s stated father.
Hint: Reverse the viewpoint, not just the words.
Discover the reversal
The family did not change when the question reversed. Only your starting person changed. Finish this sentence aloud: “When I am asked what X is to Y, I start at ___.” Then use the explanation below to check your map.
The same family, two viewpoints
A cousin is a child of your parent’s sibling. The precise path matters more than whether two names are drawn on the same row.
Our example gives these facts: A is the mother of B and C; B is D’s father; C is E’s mother; E is C’s daughter. B and C explicitly share mother A. D’s gender is not given.
Text map: A → B → D and A → C → E. Every arrow means parent → child. B is male, C and E are female. To identify E’s relation to D, stand at D: father B → B’s sister C → her daughter E. E is D’s paternal aunt’s daughter, a cousin.
Now reverse the question. To identify D’s relation to E, stand at E: mother C → C’s brother B → B’s child D. D is E’s maternal uncle’s child. We cannot choose son or daughter without D’s gender.
“Father’s brother” does not by itself tell us whether that uncle is older or younger than the father. Avoid choosing an age-specific Hindi term without that extra fact.
Now take the separate practice
Open this lesson’s Practice test: five new checks, about eight minutes, with explanations after answering. This is a low-stakes learning check, not an official SSC paper. Try without the notes, then return to the exact step that caused an error. The optional time estimate is not an exam speed target.
Comparison note: these prototype modules use parallel versions of the same skills. Repeated exposure can improve your score, so this is a format comparison, not a controlled experiment proving which method is best.
Design inspiration: Brilliant’s learning approach. The explanations and questions here are original; this is not an official Brilliant course.
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